Notable additions

"I started rehearsing and performing with the group in September 2022. It's been fun so far. We perform a very diverse repertoire, including operas, opera excerpts, song cycles, and concertos from a wide range of time periods and traditions, and I am enjoying this level of diversity," says Lawrence, who started learning the oboe at age 11 when she joined a band program at school. "Shanghai is a beautiful and fascinating city. I'm happy to be here.

"One thing that became apparent when I arrived in China is the growing amount of professional opportunities here. The number of Chinese orchestras has increased by 80 in recent years, and that made me curious about possible career opportunities for myself in a place with growing public interest in classical music," she explains.

"I have always been a person who has focused more on journeys than destinations, so I am happy to see where this journey takes me."

During her time at the Tianjin school, she studied with the school's resident faculty member Scott Bell, who had worked with the Pittsburgh Symphony for a long time.

"The most important thing for me in coming to Tianjin was to stay open-minded and just roll with the punches. I knew from the interactions I had with my professor and classmates that this could be a life-changing opportunity, so long as I stayed open to change and opportunity," she recalls of her experience at the school.

"My time at the Tianjin Juilliard presented me directly with very significant career opportunities, as well as the ability to take advantage of them."

After graduating from the Tianjin Juilliard, violinist Ler Ler Ma moved to Suzhou, Jiangsu province, in October to work with the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, a young and dynamic orchestra inaugurated in 2016. She decided to take the job in Suzhou as there are currently no openings in her native Singapore.

"We've had a few concerts in a row and a few were canceled due to the pandemic, but the concert season should be resuming now. It has been great meeting new people and working in an orchestra professionally," says Ma.

The violinist had never been to Tianjin before she studied there. She chose to study there because of the Shanghai Quartet — one of the world's foremost chamber ensembles — and the reputation of the Juilliard School.

"The biggest gain those two years (at the Tianjin school) has been the abundance of performance opportunities and the bonds between the students and the teachers. In this contained community, a sense of musical identity is cultivated," Ma says. "I sometimes send pictures or videos to my family back in Singapore and post about my life on social media. As a result, many of them have developed a positive impression of Tianjin and want to visit."